There was a time when people could pick us out of a crowd, but that doesn’t seem to be anymore. Now Catholics are just part of the crowed. Some would say that’s a good thing, that we need to be just part of the everyday crowed, but I’m not so sure it’s a good thing.

Why are we afraid to stand out, to be seen and know for what we believe in? Why do we wish to keep our catholic identity hidden?

Over the last few weeks we have celebrated two great days at out church, First Communion and Confirmation, each once being a very important point in a Catholics life.

First Communion is the first time that a child gets to receive the true presence of Christ, what a awesome gift. I love the mass with our first communion kids, all dressed up, looking so proud, and scared, it’s a cure mix. The parents are glowing the kids are glowing and all is as it should be, they are excited to be at Church, to receive Jesus. But all too often that will be the last time they enter in to communion with Jesus and the Church as a whole.

One of the traditions of our parish is for all the kids to sing a song, after communion has been received by all. I know the song well, it has been sung for years, it “This little light of mine”

This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

The idea about the song, and the fact that it’s sung by our little ones makes it a very special song to me.

We all too often do place our faith under a bushel; we do blow out the light of Catholicism all too often, in the name of not wanting to offend.

What are we teaching our kids, our communities and our world when we are ashamed of our faith?

We need to stand tall, and shine our light so all can see…

Confirmation was this past Sunday, and once again, all the kids where dressed up, looking sharp, the parents where all beaming with pride, and the Bishop was ready to call down the Holy Spirit. It was a nice mass, and all went well. I was very proud of our kids, as I always am, but also a little sad because I know that will be the last time I see many of them.

Once again we have created a culture in our world, where it’s not cool to be seen there, or to let others know you are Catholic.

We need to change this culture, this anti-catholic view. But before we can change it outside of the church we need to change it inside of the church. Each one of us needs to change it, starting with ourselves.

You may be thinking, “Hey, what’s he talking about, I am a proud Catholic, I am always doing this and that….” And that may be true, but none of us are perfect Catholics, so all of us are in need of change…

We all can show our pride in our faith, hold our heads up high and proclaim our Catholic identity.

Maybe what we need is a “Catholic and Proud” day, one day a year where all Catholics proclaim there Catholicity to all. I propose that we create such a day, an international Catholic Pride Day. A day we can wear our Catholic faith on our sleeves with pride!

A day when kids can wear a button or shirt stating they are Catholic to school, a day when adults can wear a tie or pin to work; Churches would have pot luck dinners and speakers to help us grow in faith and community. A day that would make others says, “Hey, I want to be Catholic”.

I propose May 30th to officially be Catholic and Proud Day!

So everyone, start planning something, and let me know what you plan to do… Be Proud! Be Catholic! And be Bold!

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About Paul Sposite

Paul Sposite - Life Coach
I began my career as an instructor. As an instructor there are two basic requirements. You have to know yourself, so you know where you’re drawing your inspiration from. And you have to actively listen to the others, and then respond to the subtext of what they are saying. In learning about myself I started to focus a lot on my students, how they learned, what questions they were asking and how I could best modify my methods to best serve them. I believe that if you use your real life problems/issues as insights to the issues you need to heal, you’ll grow. From my experience in the classroom, creating curriculum and material to support my training, I developed an interest in how people process information. This interest turned into my interest in Life Coaching.